[Stoves] SA Paraffin Geyser

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Andrew P

>I remember posting something about another (or the same?) SA paraffin
geyser some time ago.  Crispin, have you seen this one?  

There are several of these devices available, three I can think of. One is
called the "Geyser 2000". It might be the original 'modern' one.

The ones with cloth wicks which can be seen at holiday camps.

I would class it as a type of Kelly Kettle. I don't have any idea how old
the principle involved is (single heating tube immersed in water).

>It ought to be a fairly easy to adapt a number of different wood/biomass
burner designs 
>to this type of boiler.
http://www.cbuying.co.za/index.php/paraffin-geyser
http://www.slideshare.net/GreatNews/paraffin-water-geyser

I agree. It has a heck of a lot of draft so there is a need to seriously
look at the excess air in the pipe. From the look of it, there is a lot of
room to improve it. I didn't get enough from numbers from the two sites that
would allow one to calculate the thermal efficiency. Like most small
paraffin burners, virtually no one tests the combustion efficiency and
thermal efficiency of their devices, and even in good intentions they do,
they will often get answers that are not all that helpful.

The best I can calculate is that the thermal efficiency is 69% based on the
fuel at 44 MJ/kg and a density of 0.83 and the 200 litres was heated from 20
to 50 deg. That is not particularly impressive given that we can find pots
on stoves working in a similar range.

I have written to Prof Philip Lloyd and SABS (South African Bureau of
Standards) and asked if it falls under their regulation as a 'cooking
device' in which case is would have to comply with SANS 1906 (non-pressure
heating and cooking appliances under 3.5 kW).

Regards
Crispin in Cape Town